McLennan knows that the future will bring more trouble, more instability, more decay. After all, “entropy is the ironclad rule of the universe.” But he thinks of himself as an “informed realist,” not a pessimist. “I’m a believer in human potential, but I think the path is not linear,” he says. “It’s punctured by episodic disruption. So, if you structure your portfolio and your way of thinking to endure those pockets of disruption, you’re more likely to be able to benefit from the march of humankind over time than if you depend on it going well.”
